Beryl brings wind, high surf to coast

Monday

May 28, 2012 at 12:12 AM

Dash Coleman

With Tropical Storm Beryl looming out at sea, Tybee Island's emergency responders weren't taking any chances Sunday. At about 10:30 a.m., Tybee Ocean Rescue closed the water off the beaches to swimmers who did not have personal flotation devices. The currents were strong and riptides were popping up, and they didn't want a repeat of Saturday's events.

"Yesterday was an extremely busy day - 48 rescues, tons of medical issues, missing kids," said Ocean Rescue Lt. Bryan Billotto on Sunday afternoon. "The conditions weren't as bad as they are today. If we hadn't closed the water, it would have been just as busy today as well."

He said three people were rescued from Tybee's waters on Sunday, but they were all off the southern part of the island where there were no lifeguard towers flying two red flags to indicate swimming was prohibited. One was an adult male on a kite board, and the other two were girls on boogie boards, he said. All three were rescued via jet ski, and none were injured, he said.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami announced Sunday that Beryl was expected to make landfall during the night near the northeastern Florida coast. The storm was expected to bring 4-8 inches of rain, with as much as a foot of rain possible in some areas. Forecasters predicted the storm surge and tide would cause some coastal flooding in northeastern Florida, Georgia and southern South Carolina.

In an 8 p.m. advisory, the National Hurricane Center announced Beryl was nearing hurricane strength with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph. Little change in strength was expected prior to landfall, but any additional increase in strength would make the storm a Category 1 hurricane, according to the advisory.

The storm's effects were felt in Chatham County throughout the day Sunday.

At one point in the late afternoon, more than 2,500 customers were without power in the Savannah area, but that number was down to about 1,450 by 8 p.m., said Georgia Power spokeswoman Lynn Wallace. She said outages were scattered throughout the area, but the bulk were on Wilmington Island. She said Georgia Power crews from around Coastal Georgia and some contractors had been called in to work on various issues, which included blown transformers, equipment failure and trees being blown down on top of power lines.

Brent Boyd, a supervisor with the city of Savannah's Park and Tree Department, said the department responded to 13 calls on Sunday due to downed trees or limbs.

"It started about 9:30 (Sunday) morning, and with the tropical storm coming in, it's just an onslaught of trees falling down and broken limbs," he said. "They call us when it's in the road, and we clear the road as quickly as possible."

Mid-afternoon he and several other Park and Tree employees were working to clear a large tree that had fallen across Duffy Street at Best Academy. The tree had fallen on a van, and he said it was the worst incident they dealt with all day.

While the effects of Beryl were a nuisance for many Coastal Empire residents Sunday, they made life a little better for a select few.

One of those people was Atsushi Yamada, who goes by "Hot Sushi." The Japanese-born surfer was enjoying the waves Sunday afternoon at Tybee's south beach. He called the conditions "too much fun."

"We don't get this kind of surf often," Yamada said. "It's a treat from Mother Nature. It's a little too much wind, but that's part of the game."

Because his green surf board could float, Yamada was one of the few beach-goers allowed out in the water. Lifeguards' whistles blared constantly as visitors stepped too far into the ocean.

For the most part, said Tybee Island Police Maj. Brian Barrs, beach-goers understood the danger rip currents posed and obeyed the lifeguards. As of about 3 p.m., he said police had only ticketed two people for repeated failure to obey lifeguards. He said most of the difficulty arose from people who had never been to the beach before.

"They come from inland, and this is the first time they've been to the ocean, and of course they want to get their feet wet," Barrs said. "But they understand."

The Associated Press contributed to this report

ON THE WEB

Go to savannahnow.com/video to watch footage the windy conditions on Tybee's beach on Sunday afternoon and of a tree being removed by city workers from Duffy Street.